Experts in the financial industry have said that there is a growing shortfall of adequate talent in the financial services industry in the United Arab Emirates.

There is growing competition between the Abu Dhabi's new financial free-zone (ADGM) and the existing financial centre of Dubai to become a leading financial hub of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region as well as the larger Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region. However, there is a shortfall of talent in the field in the region.

St. Petersburg, Florida based Raymond James Financial Inc's reported an increased revenue and profits in the fiscal second quarter. Even amidst the turbulence of the markets this year, the company was successful in reporting profits due to strength in its banking and lending sectors.

A high number of small businesses in the United Arabs Emirates are set up as partnerships with two people becoming shareholders. Some of the policiesmade with innovative solutions to address some of the issues associated with the model.

Max Levchin, the cofounder of PayPal who founded Affirm, raised $100 million for his consumer lending startup. The amount raised will be used by the financial technology company to develop a so called "direct-to-consumer" products.

Are iPhones losing some of their charm? Consumers are not picking up iPhones with the speed they used to in earlier years. The new versions of the smartphone do not seem to impress shoppers as much as it used to do, but Timothy Arcuri, analyst with Cowen & Co. says that things may change soon.

He upgraded Apple shares, which trades under the ticker symbol AAPL, from Hold to Buy on Wednesday placing a target piece of $135. The company's shares were put on the sidelines since last year's summer.

In a statement on Sunday, South Africa's finance minister Pravin Gordhan said that he was surprised to see "misleading headlines" and content of articles in a newspaper and rejected a deadline that Hawks gave him to answer a set of 27 questions connected to the establishment of Sars. SA Revenue Service or Sars is the supposedly "rogue spy unit" which was created when he was still the commissioner.